Launched in June, the
deep space atomic clock is hosted on a spacecraft provided by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of Englewood, Colorado.
Todd Ely, principal investigator for the project, said: "The goal of the space experiment is to put the
Deep Space Atomic Clock in the context of an operating spacecraft - complete with the things that affect the stability and accuracy of a clock - and see if it performs at the level we think it will: with orders of magnitude more stability than existing space clocks."
"Normally it doesn't matter how many galaxies are nearby; the ultraviolet light that keeps the gas in
deep space transparent often comes from galaxies that are extremely far away.
He introduced then to the Messier Catalogue of
Deep Space Objects, compiled by Charles Messier in the late 1760s.
Should the trial be successful, AstroRad will be used on the upcoming planned manned missions to
deep space.
"During the next decade, we will begin the harvest of space resources from asteroids," said Daniel Faber, CEO at
Deep Space Industries.
Prof Michael Delp, of Florida State University, said the study gave the "first glimpse" into the "adverse effects on humans" of
deep space travel.
In the future
deep space exploration, the capacity of the communication system will have a huge demand [5].
The successful pre-flight test is an important milestone in validating the rocket motor's use for SLS and its
deep space missions.
Hatcher is convinced that grasping group psychology is key to prepping astronauts for
deep space travel.